The door creaked opened, and Terry Rozier gleefully waded into the sea of colorful footwear that appeared in front of him.

Two days before the start of the postseason, Boston Celtics All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving had invited Rozier to his house for a pre-playoff pep talk. nfl jerseys for cheap They quickly found themselves in a shoe closet.

Rozier excitedly grabbed a pair of Irving’s Kyrie 3 “Luck,” a gold version of the guard’s signature shoe with green shamrocks that Irving had debuted against the Golden State Warriors in November.

The next shoes to get swooped up were a pair of the purple Kyrie 4 “London” — the shoes’ bright yellow outsole stripes inspired by the top of the city’s famous O2 Arena, where the Celtics had played in January.

Before long, a tower of shoes had grown outside the closet, the eight pairs of prized sneakers ready for immediate relocation to Rozier’s locker at the Celtics’ practice facility.

Maybe it was just a friendly gesture by Irving, but the symbolism of the moment cannot be overlooked. The Celtics have asked Rozier to fill Irving’s shoes this postseason, and the third-year guard has responded by emerging as one of the most impactful players of the postseason.

With Rozier and his new collection of playoff kicks leading the way, the Celtics stand one win away from an improbable return trip to the Eastern Conference finals.

When Irving underwent season-ending knee surgery in early April, it was supposed to squash any lingering hope that these battered Celtics had of postseason success. cheap nfl authentic jerseys What most didn’t foresee was Boston’s youngest players continuing their ascent to household names on the playoff stage.